ASN: Sorry about the tardy update, but I was up till 12:30 this morning working on a paper. My poor sleep-deprived brain just remembered about all of you waiting ten minutes ago.
AN: Doesn't that make all you readers feel special?
ASN: Then why didn't YOU put it up?
AN: Ummmm, yeah, anyway, here's the new chapter!
CHAPTER 4: A NIGHTMARE FROM
THE PAST
California Technology Labs, "Guest Suite"
Foaly the centaur woke with a groan. Everything hurt. Everything. However, his head hurt more than anything else. Blinking, he looked around. A tiny room, all in black. Black walls, black ceiling, black concrete slab floor. No doors. No lights. Homey, wasn't it?
"Mrph?" he gargled, trying to move from his sprawled position. He wasn't getting very far.
"Ah, the horse is awake." A disembodied voice floated past his ears. Foaly scowled, then winced. He opened his mouth to speak a snappy, snide retort. Unfortunately, all that came out was "Mrgglh." Inwardly, Foaly moaned. So much for impressing the opposition with his wit and intelligence.
Then, he heard a high pitched voice from the past, that unfortunately wouldn't stay in the past.
"I think you Mud Men gave him too much tranquilizer." Foaly was barely able to nod agreement.
A door opened and a shaft of light shone right into Foaly's eyes. He shut his eyes automatically, and when he opened them, a pixie stood in front of him. Grinning.
With a courageous effort, Foaly got out his first intelligible word. "O-Opal?"
"The one and only. How do you feel? Not too good, I hope." was the cheerful answer.
"Why-why am I here? What do you want?" Foaly asked sluggishly, trying to stand. No luck in that area. It almost felt like his hooves were tied up... He looked down. They were.
"You're here because my business associate wants to meet you, and I want nothing. JR, on the other hand, might want a few things, nothing big. Just, well, any and all plans for the machinery the LEP uses down below. That's it."
"You're kidding." Foaly said. "You told a Mud Man about us? You must be insane."
Opal frowned slightly. "At least I'm not going to die anytime soon. You, on the other hand, we aren't so certain about. It depends on your cooperation."
She turned back to the goons standing in the doorway. "Keep an eye on him; if he does anything you wouldn't do, drug him. Let him escape, and JR will be very... unhappy."
The apes nodded. Opal gave Foaly a casual wave and walked off. The door clanged shut behind her. Foaly groaned. Mud Men had kidnaped him. How was he going to get loose? Julius couldn't find a mouse in a paper bag. Foaly was the one who did all the searching and detecting. And Foaly had nothing. At all. Not even a computer, like last time he had been trapped. He was quite sincerely stuck.
Fowl Manor
Artemis had arrived back at his room to find Butler watching Root. Root, for his part, was trying to out-stare the bodyguard.
"And what did you get caught at pulling, Commander?" Artemis asked as he sat at the computer. Root glared at the Mud Boy's back.
"Artemis," Butler said, not taking his eyes off the two fairies, "What exactly are the Captain and Commander doing here?" His answer was a sigh from Holly, a snarl from Root, and a chuckle from Artemis.
"Begging for help." Artemis replied. Holly gasped in fury at the words, and Root was up and halfway across the room before Butler caught him by the collar of his jumpsuit.
"How dare you, you snotty-nosed toddler! I ought to-" Butler cut off the wave of words by simply lifting the elf five feet up the ground. More surprised than he cared to admit, Root stopped talking and struggled for a minute as Artemis called up a few files on the computer.
"Now, Commander," he said, completely unaffected by the evil looks he was receiving from the fairies, "I have a few questions. First, Foaly was on vacation, correct?"
Holly nodded. Root stopped fighting so he could hear better.
"Second, how many people knew he was gone?"
Root frowned, and irritably tried to free himself from the bodyguard's grasp. Butler let him go, and Root hovered at Artemis's eye level. "Well, once everything started falling apart, almost everyone."
Artemis sighed. "All right. Can you think of anyone, no matter how ridiculous, who would have a grudge against Foaly, someone who hated him enough to risk exposing the fairy world to humans?"
Holly and Root went quiet for a moment. "Well, there's Defea." Holly offered. "An ex-girlfriend. She's been after him for awhile."
Root grinned slightly and crossed the room towards his officer. "Why didn't I hear about this?"
"Because Foaly knew you'd pick on him. Why else?"
"Somehow, I doubt an ex would go this far. Anyone else?" Artemis dryly.
Complete calm. Then Root gasped suddenly. "I know," he said. "It has to be her." Artemis gave him a puzzled look. Holly did as well, then abruptly fell on the answer.
"Opal," she breathed.
Butler raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Opal go to the goblin prison for a few centuries?" he said doubtfully. "What could she do there?"
"She escaped." Holly said. "Just a few days ago. And then Foaly disappeared! It can't be coincidence." She stood, pacing the room. "It makes sense. She escaped with some Mud Men, she hates Foaly, and she has the scheming mind to do it."
Root nodded. "She was even in the South Pacific, near the Resort."
Artemis pursed his lips. "So, Opal kidnaped Foaly. Along with human help. Why?"
The room went silent.
Root glared up at Artemis, still mad about the begging comment. "You're the mastermind, you figure it out."
Artemis ignored the crack. "All right, Commander, you need to make a choice. Do I go to Haven and attempt to break Foaly's codes, or go rescue Foaly first?"
Holly and Root glanced at each other. "I'll call the Council and ask." Root answered. "With all respect, I don't want you in our technology without their express permission."
"So be it." Artemis replied. "If they ever make up their minds, I'll be collecting the fairy technology we have from downstairs." he turned to Holly and said, "Stay. Here."
"Yes, Arty." she responded innocently. Artemis's dark blue eyes narrowed slightly as he left the room.
Haven
"What!?" Wing Commander Vinyáya yelped. "You've got to be kidding! Let Fowl come down here, again, and then let him into the most important part of Haven? What are you thinking?"
"Well," came Root's voice over the speaker in the Council Room, "if everything's still okay there, I guess we could get Foaly first, but if things are still falling apart, Fowl might be able to fix some of the problems."
"If Fowl comes down here, how do you know that you'll be able to handle him?" Lope, another Council member, asked.
"Captain Short and I will be with him at all times. And believe me, Short is looking for any excuse to beat Fowl into next week." was Root's answer.
The three Council members looked at each other and nodded. "All right, bring him down here. But be careful."
"What about the others? Aren't you going to clear it with the rest of the Council?"
Cahartez, the third member, sighed. "The rest were on their way when the computer controlling the waste recyclers went on the blink. They were buried under enough garbage to stun a goblin. They're at the hospital, recuperating. This is the entire Council until they get well."
The Council members could almost feel Root's wince. "Ow. Well, we'll be down ASAP. That's all."
"Wait!" Lope called. "Did Fowl actually agree, you didn't have to threaten him or anything like that?"
"Um," Root paused, sounding decidedly nervous. "Something like that." He cut off before they could question him further.
"That sounded ominous." Cahartez said. The other two nodded.
ASN: Yes, I know it's short. The next chapter should be up sooner.